1.16.2014

Yes, it's been nearly a year since I posted here on the blog. No, nothing earth-shattering happened to make me cease posting. Life just got in the way of being online. And I chose life.

I'm sure you understand.

But a lot can happen in a year. Like a pregnancy. And a baby! (If you follow me on Instagram, this is obviously old news, but happy news none the less.)

2013 was a milestone year for our little family, and not because of house projects. We did get a few things done around home before baby arrived. My favorite task was, of course, the nursery.

The room was once our guest bedroom. I shared photos of its transformation here and here if you're interested in what it looked like before it belonged to my child.

When we found out I was pregnant, I already knew the direction I wanted to go for the nursery. Simple, white, Scandinavian. Not really much of a surprise, considering what the rest of our house looks like. The room is pretty small, so keeping the palate light helps it feel open and less cramped. I wanted it to be gender neutral and have the color limited to the accessories and toys. The rug--made of Flor tiles--was the jumping off point.

I also wanted to incorporate some antique furniture pieces, like the dresser in the photo above. It belonged to my namesake, Great Great Grandma Kirsti.

The antique hutch is also a family heirloom that I wanted to use in the space.

The wall color is Rhinestone by Sherwin Williams. We have it in our living room as well. The book shelves are simple Ikea picture rails. Their proximity to the rocking chair makes reading stories at night convenient and fun.

I'm so in love with my rocking chair. It was a gift from Mike after the baby was born. A push present, if you will. I love how well my 6'4" frame fits in it without feeling like I'm too big for it. It's the Nursery Works Sleepytime Rocking Chair. A splurge, but worth every penny in my book.

Ignore the unstyled shelves in the hutch. I haven't even put real photos in the gifted frames yet. What can I say? I've been too busy kissing chubby cheeks and tiny toes.

Have you heard of the Baby Lit book series? My sister introduced them to me and now I'm obsessed. All sorts of literary classics have been made into baby board books as a part of the series. They're so great.

We put up a little gallery with photos of us parents as babies as well as photos of baby Nola. She looks the most like her dad, though we've determined she has my chin. Atta' girl. I'm planning to add a couple more frames, though I don't want it to extend over the crib for safety reasons. The canvas baskets are from Target. They're perfect for corralling toys and are easy to carry around the house for playtime.

I've found I prefer simple wooden toys over all of the plastic stuff that's available. They're adorable and timeless.

I love this mobile. I saw it years ago and saved it in an Amazon wish list until it was time to start getting things for the nursery. It's the Flensted Symphony in 3 Movements. Love.

Little baby Nola seems to like it as well. Which is really what it's all about, right?

Feel free to ask about other products in the comments. I'm thinking I may do a post with my favorite baby gear. Interested? Let me know and I'll put something together.

1.10.2013

Last weekend Mike and I traveled to my sister's home for her birthday weekend (get a full rundown of it here.) Since we weren't able to see them over Christmas, I also was finally able to give them their Christmas gifts.

The gifts for my nieces had been a long time coming. I planned them for months. With the help of a budget for some key pieces from the girls' mom and dad, it was finally time for bedroom makeovers!

Full disclosure: we snapped these photos after we had unloaded all the toys from the room. It wasn't as bare as these photos make it seem. And yes, that's pretty Miss E modeling her pretend sleeping pose on the bed. Such a flair for the dramatic. Adorable.

As you can see, the room had a good start (nice wall color, furniture, some art and accessories) but was sorely lacking some basic elements (lamps, night stands) as well as some pieces that would tie it all together. What's more, Elissa and her mom decided the color scheme should be pink, green and purple. The room was sorely lacking the two latter colors.

Here's where we ended up:

We moved the furniture, changed out the curtains and bedding and brought in new wall art, lamps, nightstands and accessories. After doing some organizing, we only brought her favorite toys back into the space to keep it from becoming cluttered.

We decided early on to avoid painting the walls since it was only a weekend visit and Mike and I didn't want to bite off more than we could chew. I'm really glad we stuck to that choice because the pink looks great in this little girl's space.

Elissa is still young, but I wanted to create a room that wasn't just beautiful to a five-year old. I went with some more sophisticated yet fun pieces (like the lamps, sconces and poster) to make it feel more adult. The purple lacquer tray is perfect for playtime, tea parties and as a lap desk if she needs it.

While I did buy a few things for the space, I scrounged around my own home as well. The poster and sconces above the bed, mirrors and lamps were all used around my home before we gave them to Miss E.

Elissa also had a surprisingly large number of existing decorative accessories that worked in the space. The pink chair, white roll-top desk, basket, much wall art and toys were all part of the space before.

Oh my goodness I love seeing the baby photos of the sweet little lady. And since they're just photo frames, she'll easily be able to change them out if she ever has the inkling to do so.

The furniture set was my mom's as a child. She inherited it when her kids were born and it also was my bedroom set while growing up. While I know it would look beautiful painted white, my mom's professional refinishing job is close to her heart. The oak stays. I'm really pleased with how it looks in the finished space though. The wood brings refinement and richness to the space, no?

So there you go, Elissa's new bedroom. What do you think? Has anyone else been doing any redecorating of spaces since the holidays?

4.30.2012

No, actually I dropped the ball, then it rolled across the room, down the stairs, out the door and under a bush--in my neighbors yard.

And it took me two weeks to find it. But I did it. I found the pseudo ball, picked it up and polished it up a bit.

It had a little mud on it from the rain we got last week.

So, without further adieu, my photos from the last two weeks. And because I have three projects to finish before I fall asleep tonight and get up again for work in the morning, I'm going to neglect the captions.